Jan. 29, 2006

Box Score

The University of Texas-Pan American men's basketball team (5-16) dropped its third straight game as the Utah Valley State Wolverines (10-11) earned the 75-64 victory on Saturday night in Orem, UT.

The first half saw the Broncs build a lead as high as five points after they went on an 8-0 run early on for a 13-8 lead. Bronc center Colin Lien (Waterloo, IA/Southeastern C.C.) made his presence felt in the paint from the beginning, pulling down eight of the team's first 11 rebounds. Lien finished the game with 13 rebounds.

Sophomore Zach Trader (LaPorte, TX/LaPorte H.S.) gave the Broncs a 26-25 lead on a jumper with less than a minute remaining, giving him eight points in the half. Utah Valley State closed the first stanza out with a three-pointer from Matt Peterson with two second on the clock, giving the Wolverines a 28-26 lead heading in to the locker room. Both teams shot 44 percent on 11-25 shooting.

UVSC jumped out to a quick 35-28 lead in the first two minutes of the second half thanks to 3-3 shooting, including a three-pointer by Richard Troyer. The Broncs stormed back with a 9-0 run to take the lead at the 14:01 mark. In the closing minutes, UTPA was unable to pull any closer than two points as the Wolverines scored 27 points in the final eight minutes.

Lien led the Broncs in scoring and on the boards with 19 points and 13 rebounds for the double-double. He also finished with two assists and one steal on the night. Dexter Shankle (Katy, TX/James E. Taylor H.S.) scored 15 for the Broncs on 5-11 shooting, including 3-6 from behind the three-point arc.

Point guard Larry Sheppard (Baton Rouge, LA/Iowa Western C.C.) had another solid game quarterbacking the Bronc offense, dishing out nine assists and only turning the ball over twice. Sheppard also recorded five points on 2-9 shooting.

Peterson led all scorers in the game with 27 points on 8-12 shooting from the field and 5-7 from behind the three-point line. The Wolverines had four different players score in double-digits.

UVSC connected on 25-50 shots from the field to shoot 50 percent while the Broncs shot 46 percent in the game. The Wolverines took control of the rebounds, grabbing 33 boards compared to 23 for UTPA.

The Broncs are back in action on the road when they take on Northern Colorado in Greeley, CO on Monday (Jan. 30) at 8:00 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information